Big-stage Broad has X-Factor! Feisty fast bowler loves being star of show for England

Stuart Broad, who goes into the Old Trafford Ashes Test needing just one wicket to reach 200 for England, is a bowling version of Kevin Pietersen. Broad relishes the big stage and you always fancy him to deliver when the pressure is on.

Broad is a feisty cricketer and, as such, he does not always endear himself to spectators.But you would always want him in your side and, as a captain and team-mate, he is someone who you would want to go into battle with.

Broad may not always be consistent, again like Pietersen, but some of his biggest achievements have come when he has burst through with his team in need. That was the case with his match-winning, five-wicket haul against Australia at The Oval in 2009 and then his hat-trick against India at Trent Bridge a couple of years ago.

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Speed demons: James Anderson, Broad and Tim Bresnan train at Old Trafford ahead of the third Test

Some of those key moments can come with the bat, too, like his big hundred against Pakistan at Lord’s in 2010, even if that match was subsequently tainted by the no-ball furore involving Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif.

Even if Broad has had a bad trot with the bat, he can come out and hit a quick half-century when his side are in need of runs.

Former England captain Andrew Strauss says that he would turn to Broad to come up with something a bit different, to think outside the box when he was most in need of a wicket, and there is no doubt that Broad is a thinking cricketer, which England value highly.

When Broad was struggling in India last winter, I said England were right to drop him but that he should be brought back for the Ashes and I am sure we are going to see him pop up in a decisive role at some point in the next three Tests.

Ashes hero: Broad has been in the wickets once again as England have raced to a 2-0 series lead

In between times he will cop some flak,
as he did when he didn’t walk at Trent Bridge after a blatant edge off
Ashton Agar’s bowling, but that won’t bother Broad, however much is
thrown at him in the rest of this series or when England head Down Under
this winter.

I said he had shown courage in not walking in that first Test but that was the wrong word.

What I should have said was that Broad showed audacity in what he did and even though his actions offended some in the crowd, they would have gone down well inside the England dressing room. It showed that Broad wants to win almost at all costs.

Broad, of course, never believes he is out while his opponents are always out, despite what the evidence of the naked eye might suggest.

Impact player: Broad scored a hundred against Pakistan in 2010 and took key wickets against Australia in 2009

He’s not the sort of bloke who will say, 'Never mind, there's always tomorrow'. Instead it’s like the end of the world if something goes wrong for him and I like that because it shows how important the game is to him and his ‘over my dead body’ sort of attitude.

Someone like Jonathan Trott is Mr Reliable and dependable for England but someone like Broad is just as important, even if he has spells when he doesn’t come off, because he has that all-important X factor.

Broad can turn a losing position into a winning one very quickly and that is an invaluable quality in any cricketer. It has taken him to the brink of 200 Test wickets and it is likely to take him considerably further before he is done.

Team player: Broad with Graeme Swann and Alastair Cook after victory over Australia at Lord's